Let's Go for G.N.O.

You know this is gonna be a good blog post when it's named after a Hannah Montana song. :)

Here at Rising Star, we have something called the star system. The star system is basically a discipline plan for the children so they take responsibility for their actions and behavior. For good behavior throughout the school day as well as at the hostel at night, the students receive stars. These stars are used to buy various things at the Star Store here on campus. The Star Store has everything from toys of all sizes to school supplies to candy to a trip to Pondicherry for shopping (this is a big one and costs about 100 stars). For one of the options in the Star Store, the kids can buy a night out with a volunteer. Jim and Pam have been doing this just about every weekend since they got here and I decided, once I was put in as interim principal, that I would do this as well. For 30 stars, six to eight kids can come to the green house (where I live) and I cook them dinner (usually some kind of American food that they normally don't get) and we watch a movie. This past weekend was my second time doing a Star Store night and it was bought by 6 girls from 5th standard and above. Because only girls had bought the night out this week, I decided to make it a girl's night party--who doesn't love a good girl's night?

So Friday night I had K.M., Booji, Savitha, Sumithra, Mispa, and Devi over for a good ol' fashioned girl's night. With the help of Joanne and Rebecca, we all had french toast for dinner and then did mini-makeovers. We had nail polish and make-up all out and ready for them when they finished eating. I let the girls test and rummage through what little make-up I have over here and then they picked what they wanted Rebecca or myself to put on them. They were all very intrigued by the eyeliners and mascara and EVERYONE wanted some. It worked out really well that I brought out my computer and let them look through the Tamil music I have because it created two stations: make-up and music. When one group was done looking at music, the other group was just about done with make-up and the girls just switched--it was great! Another thing we did that the girls LOVED was I whipped out my trusted straightener and straightened the girls' hair. They were amazed by my crazy American device that all the sudden gave you straight hair. Between their straight hair and their make-up, they were all having tons of fun (you could also tell they felt like a million bucks--how can you not after a make-over?). After the make-overs we had a little extra time so the girls watched the first few minutes of The Hunchback of Notre Dame before I had to take them back to the hostel--they wanted a Barbie movie but there were none to be found. Overall, it was a really awesome night.

K.M., Savitha, and Booji lookin through the music

 Devi and Mispa checkin out their possible color palettes

After Booji's make-over, she decided that Rebecca needed one too :) 

The make-up/hair station

Rebecca and Booji after their make-overs

Poor Sumithra had had a fever all day and spent most of the girls night laying on a mattress in the living room. She had enough energy to sit-up so I could do her make-up but after that she slept till it was time to go home.

Devi with her straightened hair and make-up.

Strike a pose...

Now ANTM style

Straightening Booji's hair

The whole gang from girls night! (minus Rebecca who was taking the picture).

From left: Devi, Booji, Sumithra, myself (obvi), K.M., Savitha and Mispa

It is astounding to me that these kids are considered "untouchable" here in India. They are beautiful, amazing kids with more light and love to give then any other children I have ever met. I love each and every one of them with my whole heart and have a hard time imagining my life without them.

Vanakkam

The one where she buys a bike and rides a scooty

Yep, you read that right. I bought a bike...well, to be culturally correct here in India it is a cycle but either way I purchased one and I am now a proud bike/cycle owner. Now, for those of you that know me, I'm sure you are scratching your head saying, "Can she actually ride this bike cause last I checked...she could not." Well guess what people, not only did I purchase a bike but I also learned to ride it. Yep, I CAN NOW RIDE A BICYCLE!!!! (insert Queen song here).

Anyways, the next question to answer would be, "WHY did you buy a bike?" Well here is your answer. Because I am now working in the school full-time, I rarely leave the Rising Star campus and after awhile I start to get a little stir-crazy being in the same place for so long. Having a bike gives me all sorts of freedom to go to all the little villages and places nearby just for a little jaunt off campus--it's just grand! Of course, being India, the bike purchasing experience was a great one. When I talked to Jim about Rebecca and I wanting to get bikes he said the person to talk to was Vikram...I should have known. Vikram does everything, of course he would be the one to go to if we wanted to all the sudden purchase a couple cycles. So Vikram, Rebecca, Joanne (who wanted to tag along) and I all headed out after school to get some cycles in Chengalpattu. After looking in a couple stores, we decided on two LEGIT bikes that included bells, locks, and a place in the back to put your bag--awesome right?! As we were waiting for the bikes to be tightened and ready for riding we went back and waited in the van. While we were waiting, Vikram left for a bit (again, he does all manner of things so this was not very surprising) and when he came back he had bought us all ice cream!! Yayy!! I felt like I was 5 all over again--buying my first bike, eating ice cream....it was all very super. We went and picked up our bikes and we realized that by the time we got back to Rising Star we would have long missed dinner so......Vikram had the great idea of stopping and eating parota on the way back (parota is my FAVORITE indian dish and we do not get it very often). The five of us had an awesome dinner, shared our highs and lows, and then went back to Rising Star. Besides the excitement of buying a bike, it was also exciting and great just to get off campus for the afternoon and shop and eat and be with friends just like I would in America.

 In the bike shop with our new cycles!!

With the go-to guy himself, Mr. Vikram

Oh the places I will go...on my bike :)

Now, as you can see from the title of this post, the story is not finished yet. This week I also had the opportunity to ride a scooty (aka mo-ped, scooter, whatever name you prefer really but in India it is a scooty). Rajakumari recently moved back to her home in a neighboring village and is no longer working as a housemother, only as a teacher. Because of this and my recent bike purchase, I told her I would come visit her at her home since I couldn't visit her at the hostel anymore. To make sure I knew the way to her house, she brought me home with her after school on Thursday so I could learn the way to her house. It was AMAZING driving through the back roads and villages with Rajakumari on her little scooty--India really is a beautiful country. When we got to her house, she showed me all around and we drank sweet milk from her own cows and ate coconuts from the tree in her front yard (she also sent a papaya home with me from the tree in her backyard). It was an excellent afternoon for sure.

Yes, I did tell Rajakumari that all my American friends were going to like this video...I hope you do.
Shout out to Ember for helping me get this video uploaded--THANK YOU!!

Well, that's all for now!

Vanakkam

Happy 4th of July

In honor of the 4th of July I have decided to make a couple lists.

The first is a list of things I love about America:

• my beautiful home in Vegas
• my beautiful family in Vegas
• my awesome friends in Provo and Vegas (and wherever else they have scattered to)
• traffic lights/some semblance of order while driving
• the plethora of food options at your fingertips any day at any given time
• free education available to all (and a pretty good one at that)
• that I can walk to church in 10 min.
• that I can go to whatever church I choose
• the fact that you can get basically anything you want in a matter of minutes
• the general cleanliness and upkeep of all public places
• freedom to love/marry anyone you choose
• reliable power and air conditioning
• having a pool in my backyard
• hot showers in the morning
• Starbucks
• washers AND dryers in your house/apartment
• all water is drinkable
• freedom to be and do whatever you want with your life

I love America so much and feel so blessed to have been born in such a wonderful country. The more time I spend away from America the more I realize that it truly is a blessed land and country. We definitely have our problems, but they are nothing compared to those that trouble many places in the world. I am and will be forever grateful for the sacrifices our fore-fathers made so that we could live in such an amazing place. I LOVE AMERICA!!!!

......ok.....I just had to get that out. Now, because I don't want you all to think that I am hating life over here, I have decided to make my second list.

This is a list of things I love about India:

• beautiful sunsets and sunrises
• walking through Thottanaval village and waving to all the people as we pass
• going to house dedication ceremonies where everyone is invited and they play music over loudspeakers throughout the entire village
• cramming 30 kindergarten and 1st graders and 7 adults in a 12 seater van to take said kids to get blood-typing done
• water fights with 160 indian children
• dancing with Christraj and Rosemary
• stroking her hair and singing Revathi to sleep her first night at Rising Star and away from her parents
• watching and dancing with LifeDance (the dance team at Rising Star)
• Sagayamary's kisses before bed (one on each cheek, one on the forehead and one on the chin) always followed by a big hug
• Mahalakshmi's smile
• kissing all the kids goodnight and telling them I love them
• chatting with Rajakumari, Vikram, Vel, Saraswathi, Vannila Mary, and Kala
• Christraj's sleepy eyes as his says goodnight to me
• Kids who come to the principal's office just to see me and say hello
• Parota
• the EXTREMELY LOW cost of living
• how cheap everything is
• the want of people to give when they themselves have so little
• Rising Star Outreach

Vanakkam

Word/Picture Vomit

In an attempt to get semi-caught up on this blog, I have decided to try a bout of word/picture vomit. This is basically the same thing as my catch-up posts but I have decided on a new name. So...let the word/picture vomit begin.

I went on another overnight trip to Dharma Purri--a city about five hours away from RSO. I wasn't scheduled to go on this overnight trip but I asked to go because I went to Dharma Purri last year with my session and I wanted to see the colony again and see if I could see the see kids I played with last year. I definitely saw some of the same people from last year and it was great to re-visit a colony.

This is the family of one of the students at RSO--Krishna Moorthy. His family is one of the most awesome families I have ever met

I spent a lot of the day with these two and they were so fun to talk to and get to know!

This is a big dam/nature preserve place that Dr. Susan took to after our first colony in Dharma Purri. It was BEAUTIFUL HERE!

While here, we were basically just given time to roam around. I spent the time with Dr. Susan, Rajenderon, Vel and CJ. I definitely picked the right group to walk around with cause Vel and Dr. Susan knew where all the best places were.

This is Vel, one of RSO's drivers. He is very super

View from the top of the dam. I felt like I was in a painting or story or something.

The next day on our overnighter to Dharma Purri was Vel's birthday!! I rounded up a few volunteers and we all made birthday cards for Vel that we surprised him with in when he got in the van that morning (we snuck in beforehand and set them all up). Sadly, I cannot take credit for this card but I think it was definitely one of my favorites.

After our colony visit on day 2, Dr. Susan took us to these waterfalls that are a big tourist spot in Dharma Purri. We had to ride down a river in these crazy half-coconut woven boats to see the waterfalls.

With a couple volunteers (Lindsay and Kylie) and the women that are part of Dr. Susan's medical team (Sharmilla, Navamani, and someone who's name I don't know). Sharmilla (the one hugging me) come to find out is a fan of the song "Bottoms Up". We definitely jammed to that on the drive home to RSO.

The destination of our boat ride. These waterfalls were GORGEOUS.

The boat drivers thought it would be funny to get us all soaked under the waterfalls--they were right. We were all quite the sight by the end of our trip down the river.

So basically this is how I spend my nights--hanging out with the students and housemothers at the kids hostel chatting and playing and kissing them goodnight. Something about these kids just reels you in and keeps you hooked. They are the most amazing kids I have ever met and I honestly love each and every one of them. I say this constantly but Rising Star is such a special, unique place. It brings out the very best in everybody that comes through. I love that I will be here for so long cause the thought of leaving now or anytime soon is just unimaginable.

Vanakkam